[Originally published as: REVELACIÓN AVANZADA # 007: CONCIERTO versus PACTO]
ALL the new Spanish Bibles have completely removed the word “concierto” (covenant) and replaced it with the word “pacto” (pact). In the RV1960, the Gomez and any other Laodicean Bible one could mention, God is not a “covenant maker”. He is a God who makes “pacts”. This proves that none of these Bibles are interested in the “Valera tradition” or “retaining the majesty of the Valera Bible”. And they certainly could care nothing for any Bible doctrines found in a King James. They are only interested in selling Bibles.
In the King James Bible God makes a covenant (concierto) more than 200 times and almost every time it is a reference to His covenant made with Abraham. In the Valera Bible the word “concierto” corresponds perfectly with the word “covenant” in the King James. It is connected with his UNILATERAL promise to give Israel a piece of land. It is a one-way agreement that God makes with Abraham and then He ratifies it with a sacrifice (Gen. 15:7-11). There is no “pact” involved here. There is only God descending and going to Abraham in a dream. It is only God appearing in the MIDST of the sacrifice as He becomes “…a burning lamp that passed between those pieces…the same day the LORD made a covenant (concierto) with Abram”, (vs. 17 and 18).
A “pacto” in Spanish is an agreement that depends on two or more entities. It is NEVER unilateral. Note what the oficial dictionary of the Royal Academy of Spain says: pacto (Del lat. pactum). 1. m. “Concierto o tratado entre dos o más partes que se comprometen a cumplir lo estipulado” [covenant or treaty between two or more parties in which they COMMIT to fulfill something stipulated]. It’s a COMMITMENT! By using the word “pact” the RV1960 turns an unconditional promise from God almighty into a bilateral accord that can be broken at any time!Or as the saying goes, “Treaties are made to be broken”. The word “pacto” when used by Valera, was NEVER a reference to ANY covenant that he EVER made with Abraham. The word “pacto” in the Valera Bible ONLY refers to Israel, under the law, being required to 1. Keep the Sabbath (Ex. 31:16, Lev. 24:8), 2. Keep the commandments (cp. Deut. 28 with Isaiah 24:5), or 3. The Levitical priests keeping their ordinances of the priesthood (Num. 18:19, 25:12, 13). It is NEVER a reference to Abraham nor to Christ! Valera was VERY careful in choosing words and to take a very specific Spanish word referring to Israel under the law and CONFUSE it with another very specific Spanish word that refers to a type of our salvation is poor Bible exegesis, sloppy translation work and downright heresy.
A “concierto” (covenant) is NOT a pact. A “concierto” can be bilateral or unilateral and usually with the Lord it is the latter. There is not any COMMITMENT involved! Aren’t you glad God’s covenant with you is unilateral? YOU CAN’T BREAK IT! My Savior is the “mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon BETTER promises,” (Hebrews 8:6). You would call that a “pact” would you? Blasphemy!
You say, “Well, Brother Nida and Brother Gomez did not really understand the word concierto. They chose the more modern and up-to-date word pacto.” Exactly! This is why we say that neither of them had any business revising Bibles and that both of them should look for an HONEST day job. That is also why we say that mistranslations in the Valera Bible are advanced revelation. Casiodoro de Reina, the man who gave the Spanish speaking world the original Reina-Valera Bible, knew what he was doing and PURPOSELY rejected the word pact as referring to Abraham or Christ. “Oh Brother McArdle, how could you know what his real intentions were? You’re arrogant Brother McArdle!” Witness the words of Casiodoro de Reina, first translator of the Valera Bible:
The word Covenant…caused us some difficulty because it is theological…The Hebrew noun (Berith) means…not just covenant, but a covenant made with the solemn rite of the death of an animal…and which God duplicated with Abraham in Gen. 15:9, establishing with him his covenant, which was confirmed in the Old Testament with the death of the sacrificial animals, whose deaths were a solemn rite with which the covenant was renewed and refreshed between God and His people.
I’m not so arrogant now, am I? Further on Reina says, “We are not embarrassed at all to use a noun that says it all”, (emphasis mine). Amen, Brother Reina! Neither should ANY latino be embarrassed to use the word concierto and thereby put a distance between themselves and the modern charismatic funny bunny contemporary music crowd who sing the popular song “God of Pacts” (Dios de Pactos, by Marcos Witt) as if that meant something. It means absolutely nothing! It does however fit their doctrine, because in the Charismatic world God’s covenant with a Christian can be broken and thereby the child of God lose his salvation.
There are instances in the Reina-Valera Bible where the word pact was used. Reina knew of this word and rejected it as referring to God’s covenant with Abraham. He also rejected pacto as referring to our salvation in the NT. The word pacto ONLY refers to Jews under the law and it is ALWAYS conditional. Reina used it only when applicable to the conditional covenant the people made with God, that is, to keep the Sabbath or the law or the Levitical priesthood. “[We used] at times the Latin word pact…though it does not mean everything that the other word [concierto means]…which is used by the Spanish Jews referring to…the law.” The word pacto is NOT Abrahamic and unconditional. The word pacto is Mosaic and conditional. A pact can be broken. Psalm 55:20, “He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant (pacto in the Valera)”. The concierto with Abraham can NOT be broken! The distinction in Spanish is enormous and constitutes advanced revelation in the Reina-Valera Bible!
But that is not all! Remember that Abraham’s salvation is a type of our salvation (Rom. 4:1-13). So this concierto, ratified with the death of an animal, extends to the modern day Christian who is washed in the blood of the Lamb! Heb. 12:24, “And to Jesus the mediator of the new COVENANT [concierto], and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Do you think that Casiodoro de Reina knew the difference between concierto and pacto? (because apparently Nida and Gomez do not)? Of course he did! Casiodoro says, “Enter the New Covenant [concierto], ratified not with ritual, but with the royal death of the Messiah, and with His blood, which once shed had eternal power to atone for our sins, and thereby God might establish eternally a new covenant.” Casiodoro de Reina knew the difference between a conditional pact and an unconditional covenant (concierto) that represented God’s ETERNAL promise to SAVE sinners based on the death of the Lamb! AMEN!!
So obviously the word concierto has a depth of meaning and significance that these modern Bible correctors cannot even begin to comprehend. This is why they have removed the word from their Bibles. Even the word itself, when analyzed and understood by its component parts, has great meaning. The wordcon in Spanish means with. The word cierto means certain. Any agreement made WITH God is CERTAIN! Can you not see that? We’ll let Humberto Gomez and Marcus Whitt continue with their “Dios de Pactos” heresy. There are some of us however who believe in a God who makes unconditional covenants with His people instead of flimsy pacts that can be broken on a whim. Amen!